Hi yelkcub
You ask if Excise Officers were moved from place to place and how the service was organised. I don’t have any specific information about East Sussex, but my ancestor may have been a typical Excise Officer.
He qualified in London 1829 when he was 19. He was still there in 1841. Looking at the places of birth of his children in the 1851 census it is apparent that sometime during the 1840’s he was posted to Stourbridge, Worcs, where, for example, each glassworks had an Excise Officer. By 1849 he was in the brewing town of Burton-on-Trent, Derbyshire. I found parliamentary papers on Google books which showed that he retired in 1857 on the grounds of ill health. His salary on retirement was £100 p.a. and his pension was £37.10s
His Excise Officer papers at The National Archives indicate that as a 19 year old he received instruction and his certificate states that he is “qualified for surveying Common brewers, Victuallers, Maltsters, Chandlers, Soapers, Tanners, Brandy, Wine, Tea, Tobacco and Vinegar Dealers, he can cost Excise and Malt Gages, both by Pen and Rule, hath taken Gages and Stocked for six Weeks in Greenwich 2nd Division and duly entered his Surveys in Books prepared by him for that Purpose, from which he hath made true Vouchers and Abstract, is provided with proper Instruments and Instructions, and in every Respect well qualified for the employment of an Officer of Excise”. He was then examined and was found “well qualified in every Respect, according to the above certificate, he understands the first four Rules of vulgar and decimal arithmetic, he hath taken the Oath of Office and Allegiance and the said Certificate and the above Oath are of his own handwriting.”
HTH
Nemo